Calling Iran a “very mixed-up country,” President Trump said Monday he isn’t sure where the US stands with the Islamic Republic — closer to nuclear negotiations or war.
“I think Iran doesn’t know where they are. I’ve been watching and reading a lot of reports. Right now, they’re a very mixed-up country. They don’t know whether they’re coming or going,” Trump told reporters at the White House during a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Trump last year withdrew the US from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign to force Tehran back to the negotiating table.
”Their country is in turmoil. They’re having demonstrations all over Iran. Their inflation rate is 75 percent. They have a lot of problems,” the president continued. “Whatever it is, I’m just going to sit back and look. We’ll see what happens.”
The president pointed to two incidents — the US downing of an Iranian drone that Iran disputes and Tehran’s claims it had captured 17 CIA spies — as proof the country cannot be trusted.
”They put out propaganda. They put out lies. … Let’s see what happens with Iran,” he said. “We are ready for the absolute worst and we are ready for sense, too.”
”They are really the No. 1 state of terror in the world,” he continued.
He said Iran’s recent actions, including seizing a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, make it difficult for him to negotiate with Tehran.
“Instead of being respectful, they put their finger up in the air,” Trump said, showing his thumb. “And they disrespected the United States. They shouldn’t have done that. That was a big mistake.”
”If they want to make a deal, it’s frankly getting harder for me to want to make a deal with Iran because they’ve behaved very badly. They’re saying bad things. I’ll tell you, it could go either way, very easily. Very easily. And I’m OK either way it goes.”